January 13, 2006

1/13: All Over But The Votin'

Note to readers: The Hotline and Blogometer will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day on 1/16, and we'll return on Tuesday, 1/17.

The Alito hearings have concluded, and the blogosphere is taking a breather. If there was something they wrote or could have written to affect the course of events -- for or against -- that time has likely passed. Alito's sober, process-oriented testimony and the Senate's low-impact theatrics didn't dramatically affect perceptions of Alito (or the Senate), and right now the right is doing a victory lap. Meanwhile, the left has just about resigned itself to the inevitable -- not just his confirmation, but the expected setbacks to liberal causes in years to come. When the main ray of hope is that moderate Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), one of the netroots' least favorite Dems, tells a group of home state activists that he hasn't ruled out the filibuster, it's probably all over.

Besides the SCOTUS hearings, the breaking news is that the House GOP race for maj. leader will now include Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), the 2nd choice of conservative bloggers after Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) declined to run. And special to our online edition today, we note an "appeal" to the House GOP signed by a large group of right-leaning bloggers, including the right-blogosphere's most prominent. It's not an endorsement of any one candidate, but there's no question which way they are leaning.

But the widest-read story concerns the too-easy availability of private cell-phone records online. We've covered this a bit over the past week, but within the last 24 hours it's finally gone from the blogs to network and cable TV news. And that's where we start:

EAVESDROPPING: I Have Here On My Blog A List Of 100 Numbers That Were Known To Be Called ...

Early last p.m., DC-based liberal activist/blogger John Aravosis announced in the headline to a post at AMERICAblog: "AMERICAblog just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95." From CellTolls.com, he obtained the records for 100 calls placed between 11/15/05 and 11/18/05, and has posted the list (redacting all but the last 2 numbers of each number) to the site. To verify he had the right number, Aravosis called the number, and got this message: "Hi, this is Wes Clark, leave a message [unintelligible]." Noting that he was a Clark '04 supporter, Aravosis explains his motivations: "This effort was not meant in any way as a slight to the general. We wanted to see if it was possible to buy the phone records of someone high profile in order to prove that this is a problem with serious national security implications, and frankly, we didn't want to pick a Republican since we thought such a choice would be perceived as partisan or mean-spirited, and that is not our intent for exposing this. Our intent is to get this problem fixed so that we all can benefit."

On 1/12 the CBS "Evening News" ran a story on the cell-phone records, and this a.m. we saw MSNBC reporting it with a screen shot of Aravosis' site. In the mid-p.m., NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams wrote at the show's Daily Nightly blog, "The Web site americablog.blogspot.com is out with a rather stunning story ... At some point, we will air our own version of this story. Perhaps sooner rather than later." During 1/12's "Situation Room," CNN's Schechner reported on efforts under way to curb the activity: "There is prosecution and there's legislation being proposed on the state level. It's also being worked out by Senator Chuck Schumer on the federal level. There is also an organization called EPIC, which is Internet privacy. They filed a complaint with the FCC and the FTC to try to get stricter law -- legislation."

Bay Area media blogger Dan Gillmor suggests: "Maybe we should get together and buy all the available records of members of Congress. Maybe that would get them to pay attention." As we noted on 1/11, Dem activist Bob Fertik of Democrats.com has done just that, although he's exclusively seeking the records of GOP members in order to muckrake/dig up dirt. Fertik followed up: "It looks like my idea of spying on the Busheviks has terrified them, so they sent Brit Hume out to attack me personally on FOX last night. Hey Brit -- I'll debate you on Big Brother Bush any time, any place!"

THE ALITO NOMINATION I: Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey ... See You On The Senate Floor In A Week Or Two

Where conservatives were confident at the start of the week, they're now satisfied (and probably somewhat relieved). Not only do they see no serious threat to Alito's confirmation, but the MSM seems to agree with them. Late last p.m., some of them posted the Washington Post's A1 headline for this a.m.: "Alito Likely To Become A Justice: Liberals See Slim Chance Of Blocking Confirmation."

All week, conservative blogs have been promoting self-professed liberal ex-Alito clerks and fellow judges who have testified on Alito's behalf. Several who attended the hearings upon the RNC's invite got to meet with some of the clerks, and duly blogged it. Now Michelle Malkin spotlights Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, "a Clinton appointee who gave a glowing endorsement" of Alito. Malkin refers to Barry as "a woman the Dems don't want to hear." Power Line mentions Judge Timothy Lewis, "an African-American, 'pro-choice' judge appointed by President Clinton," and gives Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) credit for sticking around "hear and question these witnesses. However, she apparently was the only Democratic Senator to do so."

Earlier in the week, BooMan Tribune was hoping "there would be some sound bite moment that would exemplify and crystallize Alito's radicalism. Unfortunately, Alito was able to avoid making any glaring blunders and, so far, the Democratic investigators have not been able to turn up anything really juicy." And now the hope is that Alito's record is "by itself, sufficient to be classified as 'extraordinary'" and hence worthy of a filibuster: "I believe it is. But do the seven Democratic senators feel the same way?" But TAPPED's Garance Franke-Ruta says that not only is it over, it was over long ago: "The momentum against this nomination was lost sometime in the late fall. That's why some very high-profile parts of the left blogosphere have reacted to the hearings with a mix of fatalism and radio silence. If Alito's ascendance to the court really means what the interest groups and senators believe it means, then 33 years after Roe v. Wade, abortion rights as we know them may soon come to an end -- not with a bang, but with the whimper of these hearings."

My Left Nutmeg reports back from a DFA town hall meeting with Jim Dean and Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT). Although he wouldn't change his stance on the war, Lieberman himself "brought up the Alito nomination, and we all were pleasantly surprised with Senator Lieberman said that a filibuster was on the table for him -- hopefully he'll stick to his guns!" The news got a much wider airing on Daily Kos, where Armando asked: "So, if the filibuster is on the table for Lieberman, I think all Gang of 14 Dems must agree that it is for them too. Right?"

Manufacturers' Blog's Pat Cleary compares the days from nomination to confirmation for other sitting justices: Sandra Day O'Connor, 33; Anthony Kennedy, 63; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 41; Stephen Breyer, 72. Cleary compares, "As of today, by our count, it's been about 74 days since Judge Alito was nominated." He implores readers to call the senators on the Jud Cmte: "Tell them the whole country is watching, and it's time for them to do their job and confirm this great judge" to SCOTUS.

THE ALITO NOMINATION II: Ode To Mary Jo

As many conservative bloggers speculated, Sen. Ted Kennedy's (D-MA) hunch that the papers of ex-National Review publisher William Rusher contained damaging info about Alito's connection to the controversial conservative org. CAP turned out to be wrong. Because of this gambit and Kennedy's overall reputation, conservatives have made him the poster boy for the Dems' ineffectiveness.

>> Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan calls out Kennedy as a hypocrite for "smearing" others' reputations in light of Chappaquiddick. CNBC's Larry Kudlow, at his Blogspot-hosted Kudlow's Money Politic$: "Kennedy ought to be ashamed of himself. His hypocrisy and unwarranted attacks upon Alito defy imagination." On the right, the name "Mary Jo Kopechne" is often invoked to discredit Kennedy -- perhaps by no one more than WSJ's Taranto -- and her name has come up a lot this week. Lefty Roy Edroso expresses his outrage at Roger L. Simon for doing it, as does Dadahead, who challenges the right-wingers who "like to tell liberals to stop living in the '60s, but they're the ones that can't seem to get over shit that happened more than three and a half decades ago."

>> The crying incident remains a big topic, partly because it highlights the otherwise over-scripted nature of the hearings, and also for the spin that surrounded it. -- Iconoclastic conservative John Cole, who on 1/11 disputed the Drudge Report-promoted notion that Mrs. Alito left the room weeping "after" Dem attacks on her husband, is defending himself against conservatives who disagree, reading "after" to mean "because of." Wizbang's Paul, to Cole: "Hello? Of course she left after the Dems attack. Not just rhetorically but chronologically. You can't say the Drudge headline is a lie unless she left before the attack." WSJ's James Taranto offered a similar assessment. Cole responds: "Do I think the Democrats statements had anything to do with her crying? Sure. But it did not unfold as Drudge and the folks at the Opinion Journal would like you to believe. I guess I am part of the 'Angry Left' now. Better than the dishonest right, which is where I would put [Taranto] today." But Ann Althouse argues their disagreement is pointless, explaining Mrs. Alito's reaction thus: "It's natural to maintain your steely surface during an attack, and then to collapse into the arms of the person who stretches out his arms to you with compassion."

>> On another crying-related note, Right Wing News went looking through the Daily Kos boards for reaction to the incident with Mrs. Alito. Site founder Markos Moulitsas suggested it was a "PR stunt," and some commenters were much harsher: "do we want a judge who would marry such a weak-willed bitch?" Conservative Ace of Spades HQ has some small amount of sympathy for Alito's opponents: "I'd be annoyed by the tears too, because it makes Alito more likely to be confirmed for what are, pretty much, entirely irrelevant reasons. It 'humanizes' him." He adds: "Then again, the Democrats are trying to dehumanize him, so Balance is restored in The Force."

>> Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) is still getting smacked around, less for being a serious liability and more for being a showboat with his eye on '08. On the other hand, conservative Pejman Yousefzadeh agrees with recent comments challenging the usefulness of Senate confirmation hearings, but doesn't think they're going away: "Are we really to believe that individual Senators will foresake the chance to play to their various constituencies with the public policy statements they are bound and determined to make while ostensibly 'questioning' the nominee?" Biden's turn is almost like McCain's post-Keating 5 focus on gov't ethics, as he's been getting flack from the press and conservative bloggers over his Stephen A. Douglas-length (well, not quite) speech, and even some on the left are piling on; Nancy in NYC from Big Brass Blog asks: "Will someone please explain to Joe Biden that the time he is allotted" in the hearings "is not meant to double as free advertising for his 2008 presidential bid?"

Needlenose looks at Alito's apparent "fondness" for the "unitary presidency, his membership in a bigoted" org., and his "slithery disingenuousness," and pronounces him "Nixonian": "I don't know if that's a powerful enough meme, or if our side has the message-amplification capabilities ... but to the extent we can get it into circulation, it will set up the kind of discussion we want this country to have." Re: message-amplification, Salon blogwatcher Peter Daou, who has previously theorized about the "Triangle" of bloggers, public officials and the media, looks at the Alito hearings and the NSA cal se and calls the triangle "broken." It's the Dems who aren't holding up their side, and "progressive bloggers and activists are starting to see the bitter reality of their isolation: the triangle is broken and they're on their own until further notice."

HOUSE GOP ELECTIONS: 100 Degrees In The Shadegg

As we mentioned above, Shadegg's in. Though RedState was the 1st to hear that it was a go, our own Hotline On Call was perhaps the 1st to post the release from Shadegg sent out by spokesperson Mike Steel. Andrew Roth at the Club for Growth Blog posts Shadegg's letter (PDF) to his fellow cong. members. Right-leaning Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds: "I don't know a lot about him, but I think it's good that the race is opening up. I'd like to see the candidates talking about how they're going to reform the House to make it more transparent and accountable. So, I suspect, would a lot of other people. More on that later." Left-leaning AZ Congress Watch even offers a partial recommendation to the GOP caucus: "They could do a hell of a lot worse than Shadegg."

This a.m., a wide-ranging group of prominent right-leaning bloggers organized themselves under the auspices of The Truth Laid Bear to release a group statement about the direction of the House GOP caucus: An Appeal from Center-Right Bloggers. "It reads in part: "We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street. We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members. But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege." The letter does not explicitly make an endorsement, but only mentions one maj. leader candidate by name: "As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader." Plus, Bear has spoken with Steel about the possibility of a blogger conf. call, and the idea is on the table. Below is full list of initial signatories; bloggers in agreement are encouraged to add their names at TTLB:

N.Z. Bear, The Truth Laid Bear; Hugh Hewitt, HughHewitt.com; Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit.com; Kevin Aylward, Wizbang!; La Shawn Barber, La Shawn Barber's Corner; Beth, MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy; Lorie Byrd, Polipundit; Jeff Goldstein, Protein Wisdom; John Hawkins, Right Wing News; John Hinderaker, Power Line; Jon Henke / McQ / Dale Franks, QandO; James Joyner, Outside The Beltway; Mike Krempasky, Redstate.org; Michelle Malkin, MichelleMalkin.com; Ed Morrissey, Captain's Quarters; Scott Ott, Scrappleface; John Donovan / Bill Tuttle, Castle Argghhh!!!

Meanwhile, the left is doing what it can to take a bite out of acting Maj. Leader Roy Blunt. Liberal Truth Caucus is among a number of lefty blogs who call attention back to '03, when Blunt got caught trying to insert language favorable to Phillip Morris in the DHS bill. Blunt was then dating -- and later married -- Phillip Morris lobbyist Abigail Perlman. Truth Caucus concludes: "Point for Team Boehner." Crooks and Liars, in the very top tier of traffic for lefty blogs, prints the opening of Truth Caucus' post verbatim. Fired Up! America points out that Perlman is still a registered lobbyist for Altria, Phillip Morris' parent company.

WHITE HOUSE '08: Hillary's Reasons Why Not

Perpetual contrarian Mickey Kaus tries on the Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) "won't run" argument: the anti-war crowd detests her, her "transparent attempts to tap into anti-Bush sentiments to compensate for her invasion defense are falling flat," and "she's young -- she's got time." He figures this "bit of anti-CW will have legs, even if it's wrong, because: a) It's not in Hillary's interest right now to deny it; b) If she did nobody would believe her," and for other reasons.

CO Dem vice chair Dan Slater notes at DemNotes, "Mayor John Hickenlooper today sent a letter to DNC Chair Howard Dean formally indicating that Denver is interested in bidding for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The deadline to submit such letters of intent by interested cities is tomorrow."

ABRAMOFF: The Only Unbreakable Laws Are Laws Of Nature

Libertarian ex-DNC spokesperson Terry Michael argues not for tighter restrictions on lobbying -- but for a rollback on most campaign finance laws, coupled with strict reporting requirements: "When will the good government types, and their hand-maidens at the editorial pages of liberal newspapers, learn that the Jack Abramoffs and Randy 'Duke' Cunninghams of the world aren't going to be stopped by an endless expansion of the revised statutes or House and Senate ethics regulations? Jack and Duke did it because they thought they could get away with it, completely aware" of BCRA and FEC regulations."

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: That Ship Has Sailed

Throughout the week, right-leaning blogs have been circling a story about a terror arrest that the MSM hasn't covered (some say won't). Starting 1/7, Nick Danger of RedState noted the foreign reports of the arrest of individuals "suspected of being linked to a planned new series of attacks" in the U.S. that "would have targeted ships, stadiums or railway stations in a bid to outdo" 9/11. "You would think that the arrest of terrorists planning to 'outdo 9/11' would warrant some news coverage in the United States, but that's not what the editors at your Ministry of Truth decided." Ace, on why the news blackout: "Printing that may have undermined their 'NSA intercepts threaten our libertries' storyline." With ellipses in the original, Little Green Footballs was uncharacteristically generous: "I'm not completely sure you can draw the conclusion that this... oversight... was intentional. But it's a fair question, given the seriousness of the story." John Hinderaker: "It would be interesting to know whether some of the Algerians who were plotting to 'outdo the September 11, 2001 strikes' were trained by the Iraqi army. It would also be interesting to know whether NSA intercepts played a role in catching these terrorists."

ENDTRODUCING: A Buckeye For An Eye

Until this week, lively-to-read and widely-read Cleveland-based gadfly Tim Russo ran the Dem-leaning political site Buckeye Politics for OH-based blog network entrepreneur Gerardo Orlando.

Early in the still early-going OH SEN primary, Russo had been supporter of Rep. Sherrod Brown and critic of Iraq vet/ex-House special candidate Paul Hackett owing in large part to Hackett's politically inexperienced and out-of-state netroot support (see 7/29 and 8/29 Blogometers), but became disillusioned with Brown as well, growing to actively distrust Brown's blog consultant, Jerome Armstrong (see 10/24 and 10/26 Blogometers). Russo was an interesting read, partly for his punchy style, partly for his unconventional politics -- he supported the Iraq invasion despite his strong dislike for Pres. Bush -- and partly for his willingness to agitate. But that last attribute may have led to his end in the blogosphere.

Visit the Buckeye Politics site now, and all you see is: "Buckeye Politics will be offline until further notice." In the days that followed, rumors ran rampant about what might have happened.

Then late last a.m., Russo wrote at Brewed Fresh Daily: "Buckeye Politics and I have parted ways, and no, it wasn't a publicity stunt (although man, I wish I'd thought of that), nor are we defending legal threats from any quarter other than from a bunch of anonymous paid Sherrod Brown staff." Russo announced that he would be removing himself from the OH Dem blogosphere, concluding: "In the meantime, I'm no longer undecided on the US Senate primary... I'm voting for Paul Hackett. So should you."

That link -- and that reference go back to a post at Buckeye Senate Blog, which reported some mildly threatening emails which had appeared in the same blog's comment boards after the OH Dems' 12/19 state party election and Christmas party. That event bore witness to a heated encounter pitting Russo against Rep. Brown and his wife, Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz. Both sides say the other side started it, both claim the other side lost their temper, but about all they agree on is that Russo used the F-word. Brown's self-exculpatory version has prevailed in most corners, much to Russo's consternation. Cleveland's alt weekly Scene covered the incident this week, quoting Schultz and Russo, treating it as a he said/she said, to the satisfaction of neither.

As Russo and Buckeye Senate's Russell "Pounder" Hughlock -- a natural Hackett supporter and Brown skeptic -- publicized the incident, comments from anonymous users with names like Thisblogishorseshit and JewsforJesus started making antagonistic comments. Both suspected Brown's new Internet spokesperson and blogger Philip de Vellis. (Brown oversees the pro-Dem blog Grow Ohio.) De Vellis was a recent hire, and had been dispatched to put Brown's side of the story on the blogs. They couldn't prove de Vellis had done so. Their evidence was circumstantial at best -- with one big exception.

Hughlock compared the IP address on the comments to the IP address from e-mails he'd previously received from de Vellis -- and found an exact match. We contacted the Brown campaign ourselves about it, and while they were reticent to discuss accusations made by bloggers aligned with their opponent, they did take partial responsibility for the postings. De Vellis denied being the author, and pointed out the IP address listed on the comments serve the entire staff of about 30, but the campaign has acknowledged that the comments did indeed originate from their office. De Vellis said he was certain no one on Brown's Internet team had posted any of the messages, but said: "We haven't done an in-depth investigation." Rather, the Brown campaign quietly circulated a policy memo: Interns and staffers may no longer contribute to any blog save for Grow Ohio. This is a direction other campaigns will follow, lest they have to learn the same lesson.

Meanwhile, Brown had previously agreed to participate in the OH blogger-organized political interview site Meet the Bloggers, but in early Jan. decided to pull out. This week, Brown has been holding down the fort at Table For One, the politicians' showcase blog page at TPM Cafe. This decision disappointed many in the OH Dem blog community, but given the situation, it shouldn't have come as a complete surprise.

And what about Russo? He won't go into specifics, and the few in the OH Dem blogosphere that do know the full story would not allow themselves to be cited about it. Sources close to Buckeye Politics say Orlando wanted to get out of politics and focus on sports websites. There's clearly more to it, but when neither side wants it on the record, sometimes you have to let it be.

The upshot of Russo's forced exit is that this bitter, ugly OH SEN primary may now actually run more smoothly. Throughout the combative last few months, many primary-watchers worried about the combat, and not a few commenters on OH blogs would remind others: The ultimate goal is to defeat Sen. Mike DeWine (R). Several individuals associated with OH SEN primary told us their Dem-leaning blogs have a tendency to steer the conversation to "base issues," rather than mobilizing against the GOP; this too is an issue other states will face as state-level blog communities develop throughout the country.

Perhaps there is one thing everyone can agree on: Tim Russo got in the way.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: No Escape

Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes again on controversial Minnesota Democrats Exposed (see Blogometer's previous coverage). The story is based in part on an already-reported lawsuit against site editor/ex-MN GOP official Michael Brodkorb by DFL activist/consultant Blois Olson over a scoop on MDE. The story is also based in part on Brodkorb's latest scoops, that state Sen. Sheila Kiscaden would make her 3rd party switch -- reporting on 1/9 that she'd admitted polling her supporters about what party she should be -- and "publicizing some DFLers' concerns about" state House Min. Leader Matt Entenza (D). In both cases he beat the MN establishment media.

So what's the news here, exactly? Nothing at the moment; it may just be a slow news day. But it's evidence of the coming ubiquitousness of political blogs at the state level. In some states, blogs have already become a permanent and integral fixture on the state-level political scene -- where multiple bloggers on both sides of the aisle are read by activists, journalists and voters. OH is one of them, TN is another, and MN is perhaps one of the most-blogged states of all. Which states do you think are the most-blogged? Which are the least-blogged? E-mail us with your thoughts.

LEST WE FORGET: High Jinks

Inspired by the unmasking of fake-but-accurate memoirist James Frey -- whose Oprah-selected book "A Million Little Pieces" was exposed for all its truthiness this week by The Smoking Gun -- Jim Treacher conjures up "A Million Little Meeces," as told by Hanna-Barbera B-lister Mr. Jinks: "I wake to the tweeting of birds and the feeling of something warm dripping down my snout. I lift my paw to feel my face. My bowtie is askew, my whiskers are bent, and my eyes are X's." Jinksy continues: "I look at my fur and my fur is covered in a colorful Mixture of snot, blood, vomit, cheese crumbs, and plaster. The plaster is from the wall and the wall has a Hole in it and the Hole is in the shape of Me."

Posted by at January 13, 2006 02:09 PM